and question and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right. in this case, i said something that's just completely wrong. >> reporter: mitt romney has campaign events this week in florida, but around those events he'll be joined by senator rob portman, the one that plays president obama in the debate camp practice sessions. mitt romney is getting ready for the next session, next debate, hoping his mum carries over next week. >> john harwood is cnbc's chief washington correspondent. thanks for being here. i don't know if it's possible to strip politics away from these new unemployment numbers, but if you can, explain, does the president get credit for these numbers coming down, and how real are they? >> well, the president gets credit or blame for whatever the economic conditions are on his watch. these are numbers that are better than they've been, but they're still not good numbers. 7.8% is a high unemployment rate. we've got an economy that's not growing very fast. but it's certainly good news for the president to be able to say that 7.8%, t